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Meeting in the Shadows
Summons from a Kage Ryun sat at his desk, admiring the stacks of paperwork that had piled up since the beginning of the war only days prior. Most were reports from the teams in the field, reporting about objectives and giving their updates. Others were requests for reinforcements or new supplies. And yet others were intelligence reports on enemy troop movements. For all the power the legendary Uchiha was supposed to possess, his weakness to doing paperwork would be apparent to anyone who happened to be summoned to his office; such was the occasion of the day. Sliding out from behind his chair, Ryun stood, stretched, and pushed his desk chair in so that he could turn and look out the window directly behind him, which gave him a panoramic view of the village. Storm clouds were festering above the beautiful village that he had founded; the village that once again found itself at war. He had sent for Isako, a very important member of his village. Important because she was a jinchūriki from the village — one of three, himself included. Jinchūriki were of tantamount importance to a country's war-effort because of their tremendous power and unique abilities. One of Yamagakure's jinchūriki was already on the battlefield, and doing quite well if recent reports were to be believed. Now it was time to assess the second jinchūriki; the one who housed the One-Tail. Another piece on the chessboard of war. “The Yamakage has requested your presence, my Lady. Under his authorization, this elite party shall escort you to Yamagakure with the assurance that Milady will arrive her summoning unharmed.” His voice didn’t waver as he observed his Lady’s silhouette, while he kneeled along with his subordinates in front of her. But that confidence changed as swiftly as possible when those intimidating eyes watched him with interest and amusement. “So he has sent his pets to keep me on a leash? Very well, I’ll come along without causing a ruckus.” She inhaled all the new scents deeply. That scent of fear never failed to cease her amusement and the eager thrill to kill. It was the same for the beast that lived within her. “I am certain that you know who I am,” Isako stated, breaking the uncomfortable silence. She was usually not much of a talker and would have preferred to kill them. And without waiting for an answer from the captain, Isako scared them even more on purpose, “Then you know to hide your fear. My beast and I get unsettled by those feelings.” Gossips stirred up as the jinchūriki stepped into her hometown. “It is that demon of the Sand. Is she going to bring us harm again?” Those damned whispers, always the same, always remembering and bringing up the past. But Isako did not blame them, no, not at all. She loved to feel this sensation to be feared, which is all that she wanted. Alas, she would have killed all these civilians here in just one, single strike – bloodshed, yes, it is very tempting. How tempting it was to sneakily slide out her sand to kill just one, innocent, feared civilian, Isako still refrained from doing it because of him. Isako was never pleased to step into that enormous palace. Even though she could call it her ‘home’, the hostess disliked to be in there. And yet to meet the one that rules her homeland and town, she walked through those enormous doors. While she knew her way around, especially to meet the man in his beloved office, Isako allowed herself to be led by the captain. Once standing before the door, Isako pushed past the men and knocked (multiple times, not soft either) on the door, and flung it open. “Nice to see you again, old man.” Ryun reached into his haori, retrieving a large smoking pipe and lightning it. At first he said nothing, merely staring out the window over his magnificent village while smoking his pipe. Finally, turning slightly he regarded the newcomer with indifference. With a wave of his free hand, he shooed the guards that accompanied Isako away. She struck fear into the villagers, but not Ryun. Few things scared the Yamakage. At least, few things that he made known. After the guards had left them, he threw himself into the chair and sighed out loud in a lazy fashion. "Nice to see you too, brat." Ryun spat. She referred to him as 'old man'. He called her 'brat'. Neither were insults; at least, he didn't think so. They were just jabs the two often made at each other. He was used to it. So was she. Honestly, he couldn't begin to understand why the villagers feared her. Sure, she had been genocidal in the past, but she wouldn't dare lay a finger on any of the villagers whilst Ryun himself was in the village. Again, at least, he thought so. Shrugging, he kicked his feet up on the desk, puffed another smoke of his pipe and glared at her. "What have you heard about the war?" he asked it expecting she'd been told by someone. Silent the woman remained. Alas, those irises of hers became feline-like slits as the unease settled within her belly, his to be specific. It started all after Isako had walked past Ryun. Just to watch his village with little to no particular interest. And with that said she tore her eyes away from the roads with the many, many people that had whispered eerily about her. They had feared her, so much, and it still thrilled her as well. “If you meant those guards you had sent to ‘collect’ me… then the answer is no, old man.” She answered after a while, mimicking him. “But I do wonder if that is the reason why Sarutobi did not come to visit me. Just for your interest, I was a bat away to make them suffer to trespass my area. Unluckily for me, they spilled your title and the leash to refrain me from my evildoing. That’s how low my current sanity is,” she smirked deviously at the end of her words. Of course, unseen to anyone thanks to her mask. And besides being on low sanity, Isako spoke more words with no stutter at all. Perhaps she needed to speak other than the beast inside her. One who still tries to make her fall for his seductions and ‘kill’ her, while on the other hand the duo is a perfect combination for each other. “What is this new war all about, anyhow? And while I'm at it, I have a feeling that you are way too serious about it, almighty old man.” In the meanwhile, Isako had walked over the desk of Ryun and sat at an empty spot in front of him. Her piercing-yellow glared into his, awaiting for the answers. Her feline-like gaze met his, now filled with his Sharingan. It was by no means as intimidating as it would've been if he felt threatened, but eyes spoke volumes about the mood, and Ryun rarely showed his Sharingan outside of battle. Breathing out another puff of smoke from his pipe, Ryun adjusted himself in his seat, from his prior, more casual posture, to one that held much more grave a tone. "Sorane, an organization after Akatsuki's own heart, has appeared to capture the jinchūriki. Sarutobi should be fine. He's with Yukimaru, the only one besides myself who could possibly take those goons on alone and still have a chance of winning, but the prospects are no less grave. After we're done here, you and I are going to take... a trip.. to fetch Sarutobi and Inoue, and then, once I'm sure you're all safe, I'll be going to the battlefield... personally. And you'll be coming with me there too." Pausing to assess her reaction, Ryun to several puffs of his pipe before shuffling through a group of papers on his desk; revealing a large world map that displayed the current political dimensions the world was divided into. "This war serves as another purpose for us, though. I plan to establish Yamagakure as the dominant military power in this world. And to do that I'' also need the tailed beasts. To that end, I have come into the possession of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The more we can seal away, the more of an edge we have over Sorane, and the rest of the world. We can make them agree to our terms and use the beasts themselves as bargaining chips. Its the most logical thing to do." he explained. “I remember you told me about the Akatsuki. But wasn’t grandpa the cause of the tragedy? If they are truly like them… then you should not underestimate that so-called Sorane. And I do not worry for Sarutobi and his ‘guard’, because I pity the foes that will have to face them.” But she didn’t leave it there, as she finally registered the word ‘trip’ that pondered in her mind for a while. Her glare never faltered but her voice altered to something more towards an exciting little child, “A trip you say, old man? And I may shed the blood of many then at that time?” She loved to feel this thrilling and dangerous excitement. He loved to share these bloodthirsty thoughts and feelings with her. “I’m up for it – for the trip I mean,” she answered shaggy, and followed the puffs from the pipe with her eyes as Ryun rustled through his mess. Her breath paused for a moment. Her gaze turned back at those red eyes. “It seems the tales you told me have not left your mind. The Uchiha seem to remain power hungry, despite that they already are. Even so, I like to see the old man’s darker side.” With this said her gaze became a heating glare, “And what are you planning with Saiken and Shukaku, whom are sealed within Sarutobi and me? Because I am not willing to lose my ‘perfect’ life as of yet and neither this fiend within me, which I’ve taken a sort of like for. Other than that I am fine with it as long as I can kill.” Ryun chuckled softly, "You forget; I'm like you. I have no intention of robbing myself of two perfectly trained jinchūriki. Besides, prior to sealing them inside of you, a portion of Shukaku and Saiken's chakra were stored within Gedo Mazō. I have all of their power I need safely tucked away." Standing to his feet, Ryun walked to the side of the room, clasping his hands behind his back. Puffing another smoke of his pipe, Ryun put out the flame on its tip and casually dumped the burnt out tobacco into a garbage disposal at the edge of his office, before replacing the pipe inside his robe. So the girl thought he was some power hungry Uchiha? Well, she probably close to the truth. Ryun intended to break the world of its pitifulness and turn Yamagakure into its leader, and to do that, he needed this war to go favorably. "Don't worry about Sorane. I have a bet that they will be hunting down Sarutobi. I don't know this for sure, but given he's the only one of our jinchūriki who is currently out in the open, its safe to say they'd prefer to go after him rather than risk coming after you, whose location is frequently kept unknown. So we'll go to him. With any luck, they'll ambush Sarutobi's team and engage them in combat, and we'll arrive and crush them if they already haven't. By going to them personally, I'll be sending a strong message to their organization; that there are risks associated with attempting to steal my chess pieces. Risks that may result in them losing some of their own." Retrieving his sword from a nearby holster, Ryun quickly strapped it to his obi, tightening the belt around the sword to hold it firmly in place. "Do you have anything you would wish to ask me?" Ryun asked. "If not, when will you be ready to head to where Sarutobi is?" Isako pushed herself off the desk and returned to her previous spot to watch the village. ''What if these pawns of Sorane are merely here to weaken our defense and strike us at the heart? She questioned herself, briefly. But such thoughts did not belong to this mass murderess that now turned to face the infamous Kage. "Just one question before we can leave to find Saru. Who else is aware of your plan?" "I am still not fond of that clone of that damned fox," the voice of her beast echoed in her mind, before she was thrown into his chambers. "But he is still better than Kurama's bickering of he-knows-it-all and his words are what counts." "You seem to be quite... active, Shukaku." It chuckled maniacally in return. Isako was not surprised or stunned by its random change of behavior. "Let us continue our killer chat underway to find Saru." Not waiting for a snappy remark of Shukaku, Isako returned to see that her old man was still patiently waiting for her final reply to him. "I am ready, always ready."